A federal judge has issued a temporary ruling this Thursday to block expanded Title IX sex-based protections aiming to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Biden administration’s revision of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, expands the rule to make gender identity and sexual orientation protected categories. It is slated to take effect in August.
“These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona argued, according to USA Today.
However, the initiative has faced substantial legal challenges from around the country, including in North Texas.
Acting on behalf of Carroll ISD, the Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom sued the U.S. Department of Education this past May. ADF claims that the rule changes represent a “fundamental and radical rewriting of federal law” by DOE that “forces schools across the country to embrace a controversial gender ideology that harms children — including the very children it claims to help.”
In his ruling, Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas agreed that the rule revisions were unlawful and temporarily protected Carroll ISD from having to implement them. Usually, failure to comply with DOE rules results in a school losing federal funding.
While pointing out the financial challenges the district would face while spending millions to implement the changes, O’Connor also decried the rule expansion for potentially breaching the Constitution.
“The compliance costs also go beyond monetary harm given the potential to infringe on constitutional rights,” the ruling states, per WFAA.
“Privileging gender identity over biological sex is in no way authorized by the statutory text. And the consequences based on this statutory distortion appear limitless. For these reasons, and those stated by other federal courts, Carroll ISD is likely to succeed on the merits of their challenge to the final rule.”
O’Connor’s ruling has also opened the door for other school districts to be included in the injunction. He requested briefings from those wishing to do so by July 18, WFAA reported.
The judgment was praised by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as well as Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare and Tarrant County Republican Chairman Bo French, both of whom provided The Dallas Express with comment.
“I have been involved in the fight to keep males out of female intimate spaces for almost a decade,” French said. “Title IX was formed specifically to ensure females were protected. The leftists running the country now want to destroy those protections by allowing males in female sports, locker rooms and bathrooms. … I applaud the judge for standing with the values of Tarrant County and rejecting the radical agenda of the democrats [sic].”
“I applaud Judge O’Connor’s decision stopping the implementation of the Biden Administration’s illegal rewrite of Title IX,” O’Hare remarked. “Carroll ISD Board President Cam Bryan and all the Trustees should be commended for their leadership as they stand for our children and the integrity of Title IX. Their courage and resilience has set a powerful example for others to follow.”